The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning through 10 p.m. Thursday, calling for south winds to peak early this afternoon. Sustained winds of 25 mph to 35 mph are possible, with gusts to 65 mph in the Cascade foothills.
SEATTLE — High winds and heavy rains are expected this time of year in Western Washington, the thing that made Wednesday’s storm unique was the warmth.
Temperatures climbed into the 60s in the Puget Sound region and hit a record 66 at Sea-Tac Airport, the National Weather Service reported.
That’s a record for any December day going back to 1945 when record-keeping began at the airport, said meteorologist Art Gaebel at the Weather Service office in Seattle.
The wind and rain come from the tropical weather system hitting the whole West Coast, he said.
One gust Wednesday near Cape Flattery on the north Washington Coast hit 71 mph.
Inches of rain, especially in the Olympics and Cascades, have filled rivers and led to flood watches and warnings in every Western Washington county. No major flooding was expected, Gaebel said.
A break Wednesday evening could be followed today by the strongest round of wind and rain this week, he said.
Trees could topple in soggy soil. Mudslides are possible on saturated bluffs and steep hills.
Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency in five counties to help with emergency repairs to roads damaged in recent storms.
The proclamation signed Wednesday allows the state transportation department to seek federal money for roadway damage that occurred between Nov. 25 and Dec. 1.
The proclamation covers Clallam, Jefferson, King, Skagit and Whatcom counties.
Falling trees were blamed for putting more than 7,500 Puget Sound Energy customers out of power Wednesday from Bellingham to Olympia.
The storm has hit the coast the hardest.
At the aptly named Washaway Beach on the Southwest Washington coast, KING-TV reported that two houses collapsed into high water Tuesday as the land beneath them eroded. Neighbors moved valuables out of their houses as a precaution.
According to the state Department of Ecology, the area south of Westport along Cape Shoalwater has been eroding at about 100 feet per year for the past century. More than two dozen homes were lost or relocated from there in the 1920s, and more than 150 homes have been wiped away since the beach was developed in the 1960s.
